Collaborating for Success in Grand Rapids, Michigan

Since implementing recommendations from an operational assessment and other ongoing improvements, the City of Grand Rapids Water (Water) and Environmental Services (ESD) Departments have transformed their organization to operate more effectively and improve their service to customers, while saving $25 million in operating costs between 2009 and 2015. To do this they performed an operational assessment and developed a roadmap of prioritized recommendations to reach their future state of operations. This paper will review some of the significant changes Water and ESD have made and why, how they collaborated to make it all work, and the challenges and technologies they foresee needing to meet their needs in the future.